Gospel.com Blog

Two Testaments. Over sixty books. Hundreds of chapters. Tens of thousands of verses. Hundreds of thousands of words. It’s a book full of wisdom and full of truth.

Christians have been trying to sort through the myriad claims made about it, and from it, in order to discern how to live for thousands of years. It’s a book that changes you.

From an outside observer, the Bible might just be a collection of stories. But, of course, we at Gospel.com think it’s far more than that. The Bible is the history of God’s people. It’s the way in which we know about Jesus Christ. And it has been consistently backed up by history and practice. It’s a book that is scrutinized with both critically focused and franticly searching eyes.

Personally, I’ve spent more time writing, talking and thinking about this book than anything on this earth. It’s simply a fascinating book. And ever so challenging. But most importantly, it shows me how God has worked and is working on this earth.

Pretty much every resource and page in the gospel.com community has something to do with the Bible, but this week we’re focusing on the Bible itself. There are plenty of links to resources to get started with in the header above. You can also check out more at our Bible topic page.

And of course you can always read the full text of the bible in more translations than anywhere else on the internet at The BibleGateway.

So what exactly does the bible say about singleness? Should everybody yearn to be married? At times in the church it might seem like the answer to the latter question is a resounding, “Of course!” But, of course, it’s not that simple.

In fact according to Albert Hsu from the Discipleship Journal, in the United States the increasing percentage of single people is a relatively new phenomenon:

At the beginning of the 20th century, about 95 percent of the adult population in America was married. Life expectancy in 1900 was only 47 years, and most people married in their teens. Divorce was nearly unheard of, and those who were widowed remarried quickly. So for the most part, being an adult was synonymous with being married. Being single was by far the exception. As a result, most churches spent most of their time and resources ministering to the needs of married couples and families.

At this end of the century, however, the landscape is quite different. Now nearly half of the adult population is unmarried. About 45 percent of today’s adults have never married or are divorced, widowed, or separated. One in four adults has never married. People are staying single longer, no-fault divorce laws are available in every state, and rising life expectancies mean that widows and widowers often remain unmarried longer after the death of a spouse. Now, singleness is almost as likely to be the current status for American adults as marriage.

Paul in 1 Corinthians 7:7-8 talks about his own singleness as a gift:

I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that. Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am.

It’s always interesting to note that Jesus and his direct followers remained single their entire lives; a tradition which has continued in the clergy of some of the Church today. Luckily, churches are increasingly ministering to the single people in their congregation.

And this PDF titled, Singleness: The Misunderstood World of Single Adults from RBC talks talks about singleness in the church.

Again here’s Albert Hsu:

Today we need to rediscover the balance of valuing both marrieds and singles. Some of the greatest leaders of church history lived their whole lives as singles: Saint Francis of Assisi, Thomas Aquinas, Joan of Arc, Teresa of Avila, Thomas À Kempis, Bernard of Clairvaux. More recently, Protestant leaders such as Methodist circuit rider Francis Asbury, missionaries Amy Carmichael and Helen Roseveare, and German martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer were all single. C. S. Lewis was a bachelor for most of his life, married at age 57, was married for only four years, and remained a celibate widower after his wife’s death. British theologian John Stott, now in his 70s and never married, has had a significant worldwide ministry. Mother Teresa spent seven decades serving the poor in India as a single woman.

A truly Christian view of singleness and marriage will honor both without disparaging one or the other.

The ESV Bible Blog is regularly updated with good information the state and news of the English Standard Version of the bible. This recent post gives an interesting visual of how people keep up with their devotionals throughout the year:

As you can see from the below chart, a good number of people start reading their Bibles daily in January. The traffic tapers off until around March 1, after which it remains pretty steady for the rest of the year. We interpret this data to mean that if you can keep reading your Bible daily for another month, there’s a good chance you’ll stick with it for the rest of the year.

Mission Network News has some great news to share. One of Wycliff’s translators just finished a translation of the New Testament in the language of the Kagayenen language.

This is notable because this marks the first time:

An African-American woman has completed a New Testament translation.

An African-American has completed a NT translation with Wycliffe Bible Translators.

An African-American has completed a NT translation since the early 1900s.

But most notably this is also the first time the Kagayenen people can read about Jesus in their own language. Just imagine how much this priviledge has meant to you. Imagine not having the bible, and the joy of not only getting to read about it, but read abut it in your native tongue.

Here’s more from the article:
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Do you find the Bible confusing to read? Why is the world’s most-read book so difficult to read and understand? Soulation has just posted some new audio resources to help you out. Listen to Jonalyn Fincher talk about how to read the Bible (part 1, 2, and 3). She starts by highlighting some of the common mistakes that people (Christians and non-Christians alike) make when reading the Bible, and goes on to give some solid advice for reading the Bible wisely.

And while we’re talking about the Soulation ministry, take a look at a recent Wall Street Journal article—about the “does God exist?” debate and the state of apologetics today—in which Jonalyn is mentioned:

Defenders of the faith are drawing crowds of thousands in person as well. Next month, the Southern Evangelical Seminary will host a National Conference on Christian Apologetics, which will include a special segment for teens. Younger people are some of the most avid consumers of apologetics texts, according to Christian author Jonalyn Fincher, who speaks to college and high-school groups regularly. She says that in the 20th century, Christians often reacted to science’s attacks on religion by “running away from culture.” But in recent years more Christians have begun to take the attitude, “If our God is the God of truth, what are we afraid of?”

Ravi Zacharias International Ministries, another apologetics ministry in the Gospel.com community, gets a mention as well.

Increasingly, the debate over science and religion–specifically when it concerns origins–has moved beyond the walls of academia. Christians are being asked some tough questions that demand they explore these issues for themselves.

The ministry of Scibel emerged in 1996 out of a paper researching perceptions of science and Christianity. The group that formed called themselves Christian Students in Science (CSIS). Since then, they changed their name to Scibel, but their beliefs on science and religion have remained the same.

Scibel is based upon the principle that, “mainstream Christian faith and mainstream science are in basic harmony.” If you’re interested in learning more about their ministry, I’d recommend reading their About Us page. They do a thorough job of explaining the foundations for their theology and approach to science.

About four months ago, we covered Scibel’s question and answer section on their site. You can read that here. This crop of essays explore some of the tough questions that face us as we weigh the impact of faith on science and vice versa.

Was there really a literal Adam and Eve

To be a real Christian do I have to take the Bible literally?

Does it make sense to believe in miracles?

Is there any evidence that God exists?

Can any Scientists Today Accept that Jesus Rose from the Dead?

“Today, Scibel helps young adults to think about some of the big questions in life - whether they are Christian or not, students or not, or studying science or not.”

Most Christians have at least attempted to read the entire bible in a year. For some it comes off without a hitch. For others (like me) it might start well, and then Leviticus comes along. With naive intentions of returning to those priestly codes, we jump ahead to Joshua. Somehow we never quite come back to finish them.

Or, we start in on the New Testament, hit Luke and all those parables coalesce into this massive story about a prodigal fish planting seeds underneath a camel. So, it’s back to Matthew again, and you’re a month behind.

Or, there’s the free-form approach–my personal favorite–where the tried-and-true interesting books are read in no particular order, which generally consists of a mix of Genesis, Job, John and James over and over and over.

We each probably have a story of failing at this bible reading thing, and that’s okay. But perhaps it’s time for a plan.
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Nancy Leigh DeMoss has been doing a series called The King’s Dedication on her radio show Revive our Hearts that focuses on two often forgotten individuals in Christ’s life.

Simeon and Anna, who–I’ll admit–I was a bit hazy on, meet Jesus at the time of his purification. And after rereading the passage where we get to meet them, I have developed a new appreciation for their seemingly tireless devotion.

Advent is a season of contemplative expectation. We’re waiting to celebrate the birth of our savior, and this waiting was what Simeon and Anna had been doing their entire lives. So, when, for example, Simeon saw his savior it brought him such an all-consuming joy that it’s no wonder he burst into poetic prayer. From Luke 2:29-32:

Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you now dismiss your servant in peace.
For my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared in the sight of all people,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel.

You can read both their accounts in Luke 2:25-40. We featured this series yesterday, but another one of our community members, Back to the Bible, have perspectives on Jesus from the points of view of Simeon and Anna that are worth your time as well.

The fourth and final Gospel account is the Gospel of John, written by the “disciple that Jesus loved”. John’s account of Jesus’ life and ministry differs in some interesting ways from the other three Gospels—the author has an eye for details that the other accounts leave unmentioned. It’s thus well worth reading, even if you’re quite familiar with the other Gospels.

A few links to help you explore this unique Gospel account: (more…)

Luke 1:3-4 “Since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.”

One doesn’t have to read far into Luke’s account of the life and ministry of Jesus to see that he is passionate about providing an orderly account of what he has seen and researched. He wrote this gospel for Theophilus, who was also the recipient of his other contribution to the New testament, the book of Acts. Both Luke and Acts were written sometime during the first century. The International Bible Society has a great introduction to Luke that covers the history and structure of the book. And as always, you can read the Gospel of Luke via the Bible Gateway.
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